In a Divided America, Solidarity is Even More Important

There have been many pieces written about how divided America is in 2020. We are divided by race, class, background, generation, and much more. There are two distinct and competing worldviews existing in the country right now and there is little room for the middle ground. Politics is won the middle or at least that used to be the case. These days it seems like most people have to choose between which extreme they would like to join. However, I’d like to take a different view. Rather than think about left vs. right and conservative vs. liberal, I’d like to think about things in terms of the course of our society and what kind of country we would like to live in.

Fighting for a Better Society

We are too divided we forgot how to fight for a better society. Like it or not Democrats need to start talking about a policy that helps real people. I think that is part of Sander’s appeal. He has great policy ideas. He has ideas that speak directly to working-class people. The Republicans have spoken directly to some needs of people and although their policies might be repugnant to liberal noses, Donald Trump mastered the art of making regular people seem seen and heard on issues that mattered to them.

Politics should be about how the country is run and what direction the country is moving toward, not merely a jousting between fundamental ideas or creating more elaborate political theater. That is why solidarity is more important than ever before. But it is up to regular people to reach out to their fellow citizens and find the issues that need solving and start looking for ways to solve those problems and then engage with people in power. Ultimately the power to change society rests in the hands of people. That’s where solidarity comes in.

Democrats Need a Better Idea

Ultimately, in order to win Democrats have lots of better policies than Republicans whose solution to every problem is yet more tax cuts but getting the broad coalition of people on board Quit making people accept social changes and realize that to win, you need broad support, not mindless platitudes that only serve to make supporters feel better but do not actually improve the lives of anyone or only a small group of people. In order for Democrats to win, solidarity is vitally important. Finding the issues that bring people together rather than the things that divide them is true solidarity. This is one of the keys in the 2018 landslide for democrats in the House. House Democrats were able to find solidarity around healthcare and other important issues. The lack of progress in these issues has to do with the Senate and not the House. This template is also important for 2020.

One of the reasons that Bernie Sanders has surged and won votes in the recent primaries is that his coalition, although not mainstream, is that he has solidarity around issues that affect people’s lives. He has created a central core of issues and has laid the blame not on the right or on Donald Trump but rather on corporatism. While his agenda might worry some of us who are more moderate, his attraction is undeniable and his better idea is one of solidarity. That is what is important in 2020, solidary.

A Solidarity Campaign Message

Other Democrats in other races would do well to copy this message. Repeating the successes of 2018 will rely on creating that message of solidarity. It will rely on creating solidarity around issues that people actually care about. This shouldn’t be a radical idea since it worked so well just 2 years and was lead by someone like Nancy Pelosi. If people are willing to stand in the gap in solidarity and are willing to vote for radical change in our society then Donald Trump begins to fade away. He begins to not really matter and his childish jabs via twitter pale in comparison. Perhaps the best way to beat Donald Trump is not to try and beat him at his own game but simply to make his game irrelevant to the conversation. This paints a nice contrast between a party working to make a change and a man who can only shout at people on Twitter. One of the best things I learned from Occupy was how to create solidarity. These lessons are important now more than ever before. If Democrats are serious about unseating Trump after only one term (a rare feat) it will take solidarity, careful control of the narrative, and a focused effort. It is no easy thing, especially with the economy humming along, but it can be done. After all, it was just 30 years ago in 1992, Bill Clinton did that very thing.